After a wet and wild Dutch GP, Max Verstappen delighted his home fans with a ninth victory in a row – putting him alongside Sebastian Vettel’s all-time record of most consecutive F1 wins.
Therefore the Red Bull driver has the opportunity to take the record outright this weekend with a 10th straight triumph.
Verstappen remains the firm favourite after team-mate Sergio Perez’s rollercoaster Dutch GP, which saw him make the perfect early pitstop call to vault into the lead, only to lose out on pace and then an off in the late-race downpour.
To make matters worse, the Mexican clattered into the pitwall after his off, meaning he broke the pitlane speed limit and the resulting penalty pushed him off the podium.
While Aston Martin looked back on fine form with Fernando Alonso second and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly profiting from Perez’s penalty to take third, it was another dismal weekend for Ferrari as Charles Leclerc retired with damage and Carlos Sainz could only salvage fifth.
Mercedes also endured a tough Dutch GP, largely through poor strategy calls in the early rain shower, with Lewis Hamilton finishing sixth and George Russell 17th albeit due to a late puncture that pushed him down the order.
Liam Lawson will continue to stand in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri at the Italian GP after the Australian broke his hand in a crash during practice at Zandvoort.
Source: Autosport